The Kirksville Baseball/Softball Association was spared of having to decide between cutting services or spiking its membership fees 10 percent by a last-minute donation from a long-time local supporter.

The group was set to discuss its funding options Sunday and was expected to choose between paring back services like umpires for younger classes or increasing its membership fees from $50 to $55 a season.

Instead, local realtor and long-time KBSA supporter Vicki Benson made a donation accounting for the shortfall, about $2,000 in costs the city was passing along to the non-profit organization.

“We’re going to leave the fees like they were, like they have always been,” said KBSA President Daniel Ferguson. “A sponsor has come forward.”

That sponsor, both Jay and Vicki Benson, said they wanted to help and ensure no kids were unable to play summer baseball because of increased fees.

“My guess is that probably a lot of people struggle to make whatever it costs now, let alone have to decide whether to keep their kid in it if it goes up,” Vicki Benson said.

KBSA had been instructed by the city to account for about $2,000 in additional revenue or cost-cutting measures to make up for the increasing costs of operating North Park.

So instead of being forced to make a tough decision, KBSA will open its baseball and softball signups March 4 as usual, with the $50 a player fee structure in place, including the discounts for families.

“It’s a small community and we don’t want to have any kids left out because they can’t afford it,” Ferguson said. “It was a huge relief. Times are hard and we always do our fundraiser, but even those are hard to ask people for money again and again.”

Benson said her experience watching her 16- and 18-year-old children play in KBSA gave her the motivation to ensure that experience could be shared.

“I’m a cheerleader at heart,” she said. “It’s the home team helping the home team. I grew up here, went to school in La Plata. This dirt is all home to me.”